But last night’s episode, entitled “Oathbreaker,” seems to make one thing abundantly clear: Jon Snow will be the main character of season 6. If you haven’t seen it yet, then you should know plenty of spoilers follow below.

Jon Snow is alive in Castle Black, and everyone is amazed and frightened. Ser Davos and Melissandre are the first to confront the scared Stark bastard, who reveals that after he died he saw… absolutely nothing. The priestess is convinced there’s a reason for his return to life, but Snow isn’t that convinced. The men see him as a god, but he appears to be more afraid than ever before. What’s clear from the beginning of the episode is that we’re looking at Jon Snow and not some zombified version of him.

He becomes Lord Commander only for a few moments so he can dispose of his killers. He appears conflicted even then. For a moment, you think he’s going to spare their lives and give a major speech. But Jon Snow leaves them hanging, no matter how painful it is to witness their deaths. Ser Alliser and Ollie both die, alongside two other murderers.

After this, Jon Snow passes the baton to Edd Tollett, who’ll become the next Lord Commander. “My watch is ended,” Jon Snow says, as he departs his fellow men. He’s not breaking his oath to the Night’s Watch, as his death has freed him. He’s probably going to head south, to find his family and set order in Winterfell.

In Winterfell, Ramsay Bolton receives an unexpected gift from Lord Umber Smalljon, who’s seeking an alliance. Rickon Stark and the wildling he was hanging out with are brought to Ramsay, and the head of Rickon’s dead direwolf is offered up as proof he is a Stark.

Moving on to Bran, it seems he’s still having visions and this newest one might be his most important yet. He sees the younger version of his late father fighting at the Tower of Joy against Ser Arthur Dayne and one other Kingsguard knight. Bran doesn’t find out what’s in the tower yet, but we know his father is looking for his sister Lyanna, who’s was presumably kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen. The two are supposedly the parents of Jon Snow, who has yet to find out the truth about his mother.

Finally, Arya has finally become “no one” but “a girl,” and gets her vision back, although this hasn’t stopped her from forgetting the long list of enemies in Westeros whom she needs to kill.

As you can see, the Starks are all spread out, facing various dangers. And Jon Snow might be the essential character that will reunite them and bring order to the north.

This Game of Thrones episode has an overall slower pace than the previous two, as the characters have a lot to talk about. There are troubles ahead for King’s Landing and Meereen, and Daenerys’s fate isn’t decided. Cersei and Jaime still seek retribution and will set in motion plans to achieve it. Varys and Tyrion have to find ways to stabilize Meereen as they find out who their enemies are. The Mother of Dragons is brought to Vaes Dothrak, where widows of Khals should live until the end of their lives – only it’s not clear what her fate will be.
GIF animations above courtesy of BingeWhale.